Flashback
by Cookiefox
Summary: When Robotnik sends a robot back in time to destroy Sonic and the freedom fighters in the past, Tails must step up to so they have a future.
1. Chapter 1

Flashback  
(this story is set in the Archie Comics version of Sonic's world… sort of. I say sort of because this is probably butchering a lot of it, then again, i'm just throwing the timeline out the window. the rest should be close.

Chapter 1  
Dark Future  
(first person point of view from Tails of the future.)  
(Tails is 18 in this story.)  
As I stare over the peninsula that overlooks what used to be the settlement of Furville. Now, it is just a shattered shell that was once a city. Robotnik has done this. His army had destroyed it along with other cities. I say to myself "where did it all go wrong? What did we do to deserve this? Robotnik….. that man….is pure evil. I swear on my life that I'll avenge cities like this one and stop this destruction or die trying." Sonic appears beside me. I jump and say " WAAHH! Sonic, you scared the crap out of me! why do you have to do that?" Sonic replies "well you gotta keep on your toes. You never know when a-" His sentence is cut off by a nearby explosion. Sonic says "darn it, they noticed us already." We hear over the radio "THEY'RE ATTACKING THE CAMP!" I say "let's go break some bots." "My thoughts exactly."  
We run back to the base. There, we see a battle going on between mobians and robots. The battle seems to be going well at the moment, but more reinforcements are bound to arrive soon. We have to move. A green been comes towards me. I jump out of the way just in time. Sonic says "blast! They have those guns! We've got to be careful." We join the battle. Sonic does a homing attack on one of the bots. Meanwhile, I take out a small pistol point it at the nearest robot. The robot says "ha…ha…ha… you're going to shoot me with that? I calculate the possibility of a weapon that small damaging my systems to be 0%." I say "think again bot brain. IMA FIRIN' MAH LAYZAAARRR!" (for those who don't know what that means, look up "firing my laser" on Google. You'll find videos that show it.) I squeeze the trigger. Energy builds up in the chamber for about 2 seconds. The robot says "energy spike detected. Begin counter meas-" It's sentence is cut off as a beam (the size of Rotor's waistline) fires from my pistol, destroying the robot…..and 10 other bots in a straight line behind it. I say "never underestimate the power of a minigun. Hehehehe. I wish I had had the chance to thank Rotor for this weapon. It's always been useful. But I guess that's impossible now. I really miss that guy. But there's no time to dwell on the past. I've got a battle to win."  
While I am reminiscing, a bot sneaks up on me. it starts charging its laser. I jump back. "I'm not going to make it! I don't wanna die like this!" from behind the robot, I hear "and you won't have to sugah! HI-YAH!" Bunnie Rabbot jumps behind the bot and karate chops it, cutting the bot in half with her strength. I say "thanks for the save Bunnie." "any time Tails." Another bot comes from behind her. I say "BEHIND YOU!" but it is too late, the robot fires. Bunnie jumps out of the way but the laser hits her right hand. She says "oh no!" I run over to her and say "hold on! I can save you!" As the robotization reaches her right shoulder, I stab her with a syringe. There are a few sparks from the now robotized arm, then the process halts. Bunnie looks at her arm and says "oh gosh! I thought I was a goner. I guess you save me this time Tails. I owe you my life." I say "no biggie. You'd have done it for me if you had the serum. "I never wanted more robotic limbs. At the rate I'm goin, I'll be a robot in no time." I say "don't worry. I won't let that happen. Actually, this serum is designed to immunize the person shot with it from further robotization.) That reminds me, try that arm out of the robot. It should work the same as your left arm." (yes, that is what it looks like. A serum to stop the robotization process. Oh yeah, in case it wasn't clear, those lasers robotize the target. Robotnik's most devastating weapon yet. Though it has limits; The people robotized shut down without a chip implanted into their heads. So, basically they're dead bodies until after the battles that Robotnik wins.) Bunnie runs towards the bot that shot her and punches right through it. She turns to me and says "wow Tails, you were right. It does work. well… I'm now more robot than rabbit, but I'll make the best of it." I say "one more thing, if you want me to weaponize that arm, just ask. I have a few ideas as to what to do with it. Though…. I guess that's rather mean of me." a few seconds pass, and I realize I just said something terribly wrong. I say "oh my gosh, I'm sorry Bunnie. I just talked to you as if you were a robot. That was wrong of me." "no. it's ok sugah. I know you mean well. I think I'll take you up on your offer. It'll allow me to help you and the others more effectively." "alright, I'll prepare what I'm thinking of when we get back to New Knothole."(explanation later.)  
With that, we go in opposite directions. I shoot a few more bots. I hear a scream "OH GOD! OH GOD! OH GOD! NOOOO!" i think "uh oh, someone must have been hit." I run towards where I heard the scream. I see a chipmunk fading fast. He had been hit in the chest. Almost his whole bode is robotized. I throw another syringe at him. It hits him just below his neck. It injects the serum and he falls to the ground. I run over to him and sit him up. I ask "are you ok trooper?" "what? How am I alive?" "well…. I stopped the robotization process." "then you must be…." He looks up at me and says "General Prower! Thank you sir." "don't thank me yet. I was almost too late. 90% of your body has been robotized. The only part of you that isn't is your head. because of this, you still have control of yourself. But I don't know how long you'll live. But that serum should make you immune to further shots." "if I'm going to die, then I'll make the best of the time I have. These bots took my mother, my father, and my brother. I'll keep fighting to my last breath. To not do so would dishonor their sacrifice. They died to save me. and as such, I'll die fighting. Never give up General Prower, never, EVER give up." With that, he gets up and runs towards the nearest robot. It shots him in the chest, but true to my word, he is unaffected. He stabs the robot in the chest with both hands and tears the entire thing in half. (note: these a lot of these robots ARE robotized Mobians. But that makes them the enemy because they can't be returned to normal, Robotnik saw to that a long time ago.)  
Half an hour later, the last robot falls. A cheer goes throughout the camp. We have won a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. Sonic walks up to me and asks "how'd you do, I got 30." I answer "I got 37. Gotta keep up Sonic, you're falling behind." It has become our little game to see who can destroy the most robots. Now getting serious, Sonic asks "so, how did it go for you, did anyone get robotized near you?" "well… Bunnie got hit in the right arm. I was able to save her with the serum. But now she's more robot than Mobian. Her right arm is now robotized but the rest of her real body isn't changed." "poor Bunnie. How's she coping with it?" "she seems fine with it. She told me that she was glad to be of more use to the freedom fighters." "well that's one way to look at it I guess." "though really, there's no way to make light of this situation. It seems like Robotnik is always one step ahead of us." "I know what you mean."  
Meanwhile, Bunnie is walking towards Sally. Upon seeing her, Sally notices Bunnie's right arm. She says "oh my gosh! Bunnie, you got hit!" "It's ok Sally girl. I'm fine with it. Besides, because I have the serum, according to Tails, I'm immune to further shots. So I'll be ok. How'd you fare in this battle?" "well…. Let's just say…. We match." Sally pulls her right hand from behind her back. Her right hand is robotized. "one of those metal monsters managed to get a hit on me. Tails' serum saved me though. That kid's a genius. Just like Rotor was. No one will ever replace him." Sally sheds a tear. "Robotnik's going to pay for that. And for what he did to other people."  
Sonic and I walk up to them. Sonic notices Sally's hand and says "Sal what happened?" Sally replies "I got hit, what do you think? But lucky for me, Tails gave me a dose of the serum so I applied it at now all I have is this hand. Though I guess I can find a bright side to this. I mean now I can punch things that would normally hurt me and not get hurt." (ex… OVER 9000 pounds of solid gold Robotnik-fat. That is one BIG statue. Though the real on probably weighs close to that. Hehehe.) Sonic says "so what now Sal?" "we continue the plan; destroy the factory. We don't have a moment to waste, they know we're here now. so we need to move." So, we break down camp and continue to move. The factory is close. We can tell because of the stench of pollution that is slowly growing. Robotnik is so very gross. He's also so very evil, which is why we're here to destroy this factory in the first place. From here, Robotnik produces the robots needed to invade this entire continent. By destroying it, we'll halt his actions here.  
Meanwhile at Robotnik's main base in mobotropolis. Robotnik is hearing of the Freedom Fighters' victory. He says "Snively, what is the status on the forces sent from the factory." Snively replies "all forces have been destroyed sir. It appears that a force of freedom fighters is headed for the factory." "they might be planning to destroy the factory. Send more troops RIGHT NOW!" "sending sir."  
So… back to the freedom fighters…..  
After 3 days of walking, the factory is finally within sight. Everyone stops to look at it. Bunnie says "oh my stars. That thing's huge." Sally says "that's why we brought so much force here to level it. But it's well guarded still. We may have destroyed many of the robots guarding it, but there are still many more. However, we can't let that stop us now can we? Commence firing!" 10 high explosive charges fly overhead towards the factory. But they hit something before they impact. A blue shield is revealed from the impacts. Sally says "darn it. We don't have enough firepower with us to break through that level of shielding. I should have thought of that." I say to her "ah… but that's where I come in. you see, I did think that he might put up a super strong shield around the base. So, I came with some special ammunition." I walk back to where the mortars were fired. I give each man a yellow shell. I say "shoot these at the shield. They'll break through it no problem." I say to Sally "time to frustrate old fat face." Sally says "FIRE!" the shells are fired. On impact, a large quantity of sparks are released. The crackling energy surrounds the shield. The shield flares blue for a few seconds and flickers out.  
Back at Robotnik's  
"SNIVELY! What was that?! What happened to my shield?!" "it appears to be some sort of electro magnetic pulse sir. It seems to have short circuited the shield." "there's only one person who is capable of creating an EMP that powerful. Tails Prower. When I get my hands on him, I'll make sure he never does anything like this again. Make a counter attack." "yes sir"  
Meanwhile, the battle has begun in earnest. Robotnik has launched a counterattack. Robots are walking out of the base to attack us and stop the mortars which are continuing to rain down on the factory. Sally shouts "IN THE NAME FREEDOM, CHARGE!" A cry goes out from the Mobians here. We are motivated and ready to kick some can. Sonic, Sally and I go with the rest of the troops while Sally stays back. I ready my pistol, but when I look at it, much to my dismay, it still hasn't recharged yet. (tiny gun = small battery.) Oh well, I have other weapons. Though my favorite is a regular pistol with special ammunition. It fires rounds with destructive explosive charges in them. in other words, it's a grenade launcher.  
I fire my gun at the first available target. I smile as the bullet impacts the robot and blows a large hole in its chest. Those robots around me meet the same fate. Sonic is also doing well. Currently, he is using a spindash to destroy a lot of enemies in a small amount of time. Other freedom fighters are also destroying robots around us. Though, some of them are getting hit by the rays. There's nothing we can do for them. we just have to keep fighting.  
And fight we do. Robot after robot comes at me. I kill them all with cruel efficiency. I used to be rather scared of the combots (then I took an arrow to the knee.) but after seeing 2 of my friends die right before my eyes, my mind had hardened and now I was out for "blood" on the battlefield. (the other person dead is Antoine. But I'll explain both his, and Rotor's deaths later.)  
After what seemed like an eternity, the robots stopped coming. There are no more left to fight. But the base is so huge. Sally contacts us on the radio, she says "we don't have any more mortars and the base is still able to function." I reply to her "well… I brought along a high-explosive bomb. We could use that to level the factory." "alright but you need to get it there." "will do Sally." I say to Sonic "you up for a bomb run?" "do I get to watch the fireworks after?" "sure." "then yes, I'm up for a bomb run." "then here you go." I hand him the bomb. "this works on a remote detonator that's programmed to automatically detonate if the signal is cut from the controller. So if Robotnik interferes with it, it'll still go off." "alright. I'm off."  
Back at Mobotropolis  
Robotnik says "no! they're going to destroy the base. I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!" an idea comes into his head "wait a minute…. The assimilators. I can use my time travel device to robotize Sonic in the past. That would remove him in the future, thus ridding me of this problem." He says "Snively, connect me to the phone of the factory." "yes sir." A robot comes on the screen. "you rang overlord." "Sonic is coming to destroy the factory. Send an assimilator back 7 years in time quickly." "yes overlord. I exist to do your will." " THEN JUST DO IT ALREADY!"  
Sonic has almost reached the point where I told him to plant the bomb. He hears something interesting though which makes him stop to listen. A robot is saying "time setting minus 7 years. Enter assimilator." Another robot says "what are my orders?" "assimilate Sonic and the freedom fighters in the past." "orders received. The freedom fighters will be assimilated." A large crackling of energy is heard then there is a flash of light. The other robot says "time travel complete. Mission accomplished." Sonic says to me "did you get all that Tails?" I reply "yes I did. That's unsettling. I'll be right there with backup." I explain the situation to Sally and Bunnie. They come with me to the factory. We destroy the bots guarding the huge machine and I take a look at it. I say "whoa….. this machine… is meant to send things to different times. And if you heard that correctly, Robotnik is trying to kill us in the past. Someone has to stop him."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
Half-Past Mayhem  
Sonic asks "but who can we send?" I reply "I'll go. Send me back; I'll get rid of that assimilator." "But that's dangerous for a person to go against a assimilator 1 on 1." "Oh come on Sonic, you're talking to me, your brother. Have I ever let you down?" "Never. Alright, go then." Ok, press the red button." I walk into the machine and Sonic presses the red button. Light envelopes me and I fly off into the time stream. It throws me about every which way. It is rather dizzying. But soon it's over. I find myself in a forest the great forest if I have my geology correct. I say "that was rough. But I made it." I slowly get up. I see that everything around me in a short radius has been burned. "Wow…. Time travel is a bit destructive. Ah well, I've got to get to Knothole before it does. I hear footsteps. I consider diving for cover but I know that there's only one enemy to deal with so that can't be it. Into the clearing, comes Sonic, Sally, Bunnie and Tails…wait what? I look at him for a few moments. Then I walk forward. But suddenly my strength leaves me and I fall to the ground and black out.  
(Obviously this has to be 3rd person for a bit because our narrator is unconscious.)  
The 4 walk up to the strange Mobian in the clearing and stare at him. Sonic says "whoa…. He has 2 tails." Tails looks back at his and says "how is that possible?" Sally says "I don't know. But Nicole might be able to tell us. Let's take him back to Knothole." So… they lift Tails' body and carry him back to Knothole where they lay him on a couch. Sally says "Nicole, run a scan on this person. Try to find out who he is." "Alright I'll scan him." A few moments later, Nicole says "this can't be right." Sally asks "what did you find?" "My scanner is telling me that the guy lying on the couch there is Tails Prower. But that can't be right, he's right there." *points to Tails* "well I don't know what to tell you Sally. I guess we just have to wait until he wakes up."  
(ok… back to first person Tails. 20 minutes later.)  
I open my eyes. My surroundings are different. I'm on a couch…. In a room. Outside a window there are trees, suggesting a forest. I think "this must be Knothole. Or at least I hope it is." Sally walks up to me and says "you're finally awake. So…. Now you can start talking." I reply "gladly Sally." "Wait how do you know my name?" "I'll explain that when you get everyone here." A few minutes later, Sonic, Tails, Antoine, Bunnie, and Rotor enter the room. Sally says to me "ok. Everyone's here; tell us who you are." "Well…. You're not going to believe this but I'm Tails Prower, from the future. 7 years to be exact." Nicole appears beside Sally. She says "so my systems WEREN'T malfunctioning after all. Good to know." I continue "the reason I'm here is to stop a plot to erase me and the rest of the freedom fighters in my time from existence by roboticizing you in this time. He has sent an assimilator back in time to do that. This assimilator is no mere robot. It's actually a robot covered in flesh and blood. Meaning that it looks like a real person. It also acts like one. Meaning that you don't know that it's an enemy until (you take an arrow to the knee) it shoots you in the face. The future is a dark place. Robotnik has gotten really powerful. We are struggling to get by at the moment. He's destroyed a number of cities. Though Knothole was one of the first ones he destroyed. But we rebuilt it underground. The city of Knothole now consists of a LOT of underground tunnels. These can be closed off in the event of an enemy attack. So, we are sort of safe-ish." Sally says "so, if the future is so dark, how does it go from what we have now to a living nightmare? That doesn't make sense." "Well…. With the invention of the roboticizer rifle and the portable roboticizer artillery cannon 2 years ago,(or 5 years ahead of this time.) freedom fighter forces all around Mobius were hard pressed to survive. Robotnik's armies invaded cities and robotized the inhabitants. The people able to flee the cities ended up finding their way to New Knothole. With them, the resistance army is still strong, though we're weak compared to Robotnik's armies." "So what parts do all of us play in this future war?" "Well Sally, you got shot by a roboticizer ray. But I was able to save most of your body with a serum I created to stop the roboticization process. So, all you have is one metal hand. But despite your mechanical appendage, you continue to lead the resistance." I turn to Sonic and say "Sonic, you and I help Sally to run the resistance" Rotor asks "what about me?" I look at the floor. A long silence follows. I say "you…..you're dead. You got shot by a Roboticizer ray. I hadn't yet completed the serum. So, I gave you what I had. But it couldn't completely stop the process. So, you turned in a month, instead of a minute. The robotization finished right in front of my eyes. So…..I….I won't tell you that." Rotor swallows. Bunnie and Antoine ask the same question Rotor had. I say "Bunnie… you got shot by a ray right in front of me after preventing a robot from shooting me. The serum saved you. Though now both of your arms are roboticized. Antoine… you got roboticized in front of me. I hadn't started the serum yet. But your death gave me the idea to start it."  
Bunnie says "well I-" her sentence is cut off by an alarm "INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!" I say "it is here. We have to get out of here. All of you must live. Otherwise the future will be rewritten and I don't want to be ruled by Robotnik." Sonic says "I ain't scared of some future robot." Bunnie says "me neither." Sally says "this is our home. I won't let it fall to some future enemy." I say to them "you can't do anything about it. It can't be hurt by normal means." Sonic says "oh yeah?" A white wolf walks into the room. It stares at the group for a few seconds. We all realize what that wolf is. It says "primary targets acquired. Begin roboticization." It raises a rifle and points it at Sonic. Before he can act, I say "JUST RUN ALREADY!" I think "I've got to find a weapon." I see a metal bat and grab it. (Which is conveniently placed there for his use.) "well, it's not much, but it's better than nothing." I charge at the robot. I hit the gun, knocking it to the side. then, I get in closer and hit the robot in the face. after one hit, the robot catches the bat mid swing and wrenches it from my grasp. Next, it picks me up by the chest with one hand and throws me against the wall behind me. (inspired by this scene from Terminator 2. /12078669 5:35 - 5:43) The wall hits me like a hammer blow. Pain shoots through my back and tails. (He had landed on them.) I think "darn it. What a stupid idea. Why did I try that? It's gonna kill me now, or worse, roboticize Me." a thick smoke envelopes the room. A hand grabs mine and pulls me in some direction. A few seconds later, I am out of the smokescreen and can see.  
Sonic says to Tails "that was some quick thinking bro." Tails replies "I know right?" Sally says "so, what do we do about that robot future Tails?" I reply "for now, we can't do anything about it. We need better weapons. Is there some sort of armory or weapons locker? I don't remember the layout of old Knothole." "no, there-" Rotor cuts her off. "Yes there is. Come with me." "Rotor, is there something you haven't told me about?" "Well… yes, and no." "What's that supposed to mean?" "You'll know when we get there." I say "well we better get there fast because that smoke screen won't fool it for long. If we don't move, it's gonna be right on our tails again." Sally says "then let's get going. Rotor, lead the way."  
We walk down a narrow hallway. At the bottom is a door with various "keep out" signs on it. Sally says "but this is just your lab Rotor." Rotor replies "yes, it is. And this I have shown you. But, what I haven't shown you is this." He punches some numbers on a keypad near the door. But instead of the door opening, a panel slides out from under the floor. We walk down the revealed stairs into the room beyond. Inside, is a bunch of tables and other stuff that you might see in a mechanic shop. But there's another door labeled "weapons". Rotor opens this door and lights go on in the room. These reveal an assortment of weapons that even I can only guess the purpose of most of them. Sally says "and what's all this? Why didn't you tell me sooner? We're running a resistance and you go off and hide all this stuff under your lab? What's wrong with you? Are you insane? We could have used this stuff against Robotnik… not that I have any idea what any of this stuff does." Rotor looks down and walks away. I say to Sally "Sally, don't you think that was a little harsh? So what if he has a hobby… a secretive hobby. You didn't have to beat him up about it. Besides, I know what a few of these things do. This stuff MIGHT be able to stop the assimilator." "Yeah… like what? What could possibly be in here that would have any chance against that thing?" I walk over to a shelf and take off of it a pistol. I hold it up and say "this, is actually one of my favorites. I still use this from time to time. This pistol, is fitted with explosive rounds. I would demonstrate but that's dangerous in an enclosed space." I walk over to another item. I say "this is an incinerator gun. It shoots a super-hot beam that can melt robots on contact." Next, I walk over to a small satellite dish type object. "I remember this one well. The original intent behind this one was to broadcast radio waves that would disrupt the sensors of the robots. It worked, at first. But Robotnik changed his robots so they would no longer fall prey to that. Now… unfortunately… that's all that I know. I've never seen this room before actually. So therefore I have no idea what the rest of it does. Care to enlighten us Rotor?" "Gladly future Tails."  
He goes on to explain what the rest of the stuff in the room does. We all select weapons from the room. I take the explosive pistol. Antoine takes a laser sword. Sally takes an EMP gun. Bunnie puts on a pair of powered gauntlets that would increase her punching power. Sonic doesn't take a weapon, stating "I'm too cool for a weapon." Tails looks around the room. He spies a really small pistol. (Btw, by sheer coincidence, this is the only weapon that neither Rotor nor Future Tails explained.) Tails picks it up says "hmmmm… this thing's small. I wonder what it does. Well something so small can't be THAT damaging. Hmmm… I really wanna try it." Both I and Rotor hear this and yell in unison "NO! DON'T TOUCH THAT BUTTON!" but it is too late. Tails pulls the trigger and a large beam blows a hole in the wall, causing a massive amount of dust. When the dust clears, everyone in the room gives Tails an angry glare. He says "hey, how was I supposed to know what that would do?" I say to him "that was a prototype miniature laser cannon. Meaning… little gun, big payload. Got it?" "Uh huh." "the assimilator probably knows that we're here now. We have to move." …. "Target located. Commence assimilation." A green beam heads straight for Sonic. He easily dodges it and says "oh come on, too slow." Sally fires the EMP gun. The electricity hits the robot and drains into the ground. I say "what? No way. He stopped EMP from working? Darn it." Antoine is next. He swings his sword in a downward cut, intending to cut the robot in half. The robot catches the sword between both palms. (Like they do in all of those kung foo movies.) Antoine says "sacrebleu! How eez zat possible?" the robot breaks the sword in half and throws said half across the room. With half of it missing, the sword turns off and Antoine runs behind me. Bunnie charges the robot with her gloves. She punches towards its face. But her fist is stopped by the robot one handed. This leads to a power struggle. The robot is too strong for her, even with the gloves. She is forced to the ground and then kicked across the room. I fire my weapon, thinking that it should easily hurt the robot. I fire, and a small explosion emanates from the robot's chest. I say "what? Oh right…. Explosives of the future are much better. So this isn't the power I'm used to. Oh well….plan B, RUN LIKE HECK!" the robot says "I calculate the possibility of you getting away from me to be 1000000 to 1." Suddenly, a missile streaks by my head and impacts the robot, creating a cloud of smoke. (hehehehe….. I used to try roboticizing Mobians, but then I took a missile to the face.) I look behind me to see Rotor holding a missile launcher. He says "come on, that won't stop it for long." We start to walk out of the hole in the wall. A red eye can be seen through the smoke. This is sort of creepy. Rotor says "that won't hold it for long, but this might." He presses a button on a remote he grabbed from his pocket and a large explosion engulfs the underground lab. Rotor says "it's not like I could use that anymore anyway. I mean Tails just blew a hole in the wall, not to mention the fact that that robot would probably watch that spot with a remote device to see if we came back." I say "we have to get somewhere safe, somewhere defendable." A (nameless) freedom fighter runs up to us. (Come on… Sonic and the gang CANT be the only ones resisting.) He says "I know a place we can go. It's a bit of a walk, but we should be safe there for the moment." I say "very well, lead the way. It's not like we had any better plans." We start our trek to the perceived safe zone.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
Back to the Future  
(So, in case you forgot, the future scenes are being narrated by Sonic.)  
Sally says to me "alright, he's gone. He returned to the past and followed the machine." I reply "so, do you think be ok?" "Well, seeing as we still exist, he hasn't lost. Have some confidence in your brother. He's always been dependable." "I know I know. But that doesn't stop me from worrying about him Sal. Also, how is he supposed to get back?" "well, he has a device that will transport him ahead through time. He'll end up about a mile from New Knothole." "why so far?" "because, when you travel through time, where you arrive there is an explosion. So, we don't want New Knothole to get touched by that do we?" "ok, I guess you're right. So, what's our next move Sal?" "well, there's a power plant not too far from here that used to power this base. We should destroy that so Robotnik can't use it for some other purpose." "sounds like a plan, let's get going."  
We pack our equipment and head out. although it isn't too far it is still a bit of a walk, especially when we're carrying battle gear. It takes us a good 2 hours before the power plant comes in sight. Sally says "ok men, get into position. We're going to do the same thing to this power plant that we just did to the base." I say to Sally "so…. How are we gonna do that without ammunition?" Sally replies "we have a bit of ammunition left." "But what if the plant is protected by a shield just like the factory was?" "then, we use the same tactic that we just used on the factory." "but Tails isn't here." "but he gave us the ammunition. So let Robotnik try it." "oh….."  
A laser shot misses me by inches. I look up to see swatbots with jetpacks flying towards us. I say "well… that's new." Sally says "that's all you have to say? Really? How can you be so cool about everything all the time?" "well, this is why." I run at a nearby large rock. I jump at it, then off of it; launching myself into the air. I grab onto one of the bots and say "over here dumb bots." All the bots turn towards me and fire. But I am too fast for them. I leap onto another bot while the first bot gets annihilated. (apparently, the roboticizer ray has some adverse effects on targets already full robots. Mainly the fact that they blow up. Isn't that a pleasant coincidence?) Repeating this process, I quickly destroy all the robots….or rather, they quickly destroy each other. There's just one bot left, the one I am standing on. It is moving about every which way to try and shake me off. But I hang on for dear life. I say "hey, a little help here Sal?" Sally replies "oh? You want me to help? What happened to the manly hedgehog that you just said you were?" "oh very funny. Just get me down from here please?" "but you look like you're having so much fun." "Then why don't you come up here and try it!" "oh alright alright, I'll get you down." She takes out a pistol and shoots the robot in the head. sending both it and me hurtling towards the ground. Lucky for me, I happen to land in something wet and brown. I say "Sal, sometimes you are such a downer." "oh just be quiet, I just saved your spiny behind."  
With that dealt with, we continue preparations to attack the power plant. I say "so, I wonder where those bots came from?" Sally says "isn't it obvious Sonic? They came from the factory that we just destroyed. Once Robotnik realized that we weren't there anymore, he must have figured that this is the closest thing to the factory." "oooohhhhh…. I totally missed that." "you sure are dense sometimes Sonic. Seriously, sometimes I wonder how Tails turned out the way he did. He looks up to you and you are so very dense. It's practically a miracle that he has the common sense that he does. Looking up to you as a role model should have warped his mind or something, and then I'd have 2 of you to deal with. Ugghhh…" (guess it's that time of the month for her. I mean she just went all rage mode on him for a stupid question.) "Now wait just a minute Sal. The reason Tails is the freedom fighter that he is, is because of me. I taught him how to fight and survive. I taught him how to stay alive in this war and how to bring down Robotnik's dumb bots." "yeah, but there were so many times when he almost got killed due to your recklessness." "Reckless? Really Sal? You think I'm reckless?" "yes, I do." "What have I ever done that was reckless?" "Well for starters, how about that stunt you just pulled? Had I not purposefully shot that bot down when it was over that mud puddle, you would be a hedgehog pancake." "ok, that's one time." "ok, what about the time that you jumped into that army of swatbots? You were outnumbered 50 to 1." "oh please? They need a lot more than that to stop this hedgehog. Seriously Sal, you're getting worked up over nothing." "SONIC! UGGHHHH! BOYS!" Bunnie walks over at that last statement and says "I know what you mean Sally girl, I know what you mean." The 2 walk away, leaving me wondering what I had just said.  
Moving on, we have a generator to blow up. Instead of firing mortars first, I run up to the plant and punch where a shield would be. Indeed, my hand hits a shield. I get clear and the mortars impact the shield. In seconds, it flickers out. I say to Sally "so, Sal, you've got aplan to destroy the plant right?" "well, we don't have any more explosives. But we can overload the plant with another one of Tails' shells. FIRE!" a shell impacts the plant. There are a LOT of sparks. Then the plant explodes in a huge mushroom cloud. I say "good job big guy. Get home soon."  
Suddenly, a LARGE number of robots surround us. A chorus of "in the name of Emperor Robotnik, HALT! Surrender and you will not be harmed….yet." "fat chance…just about as fat a chance as Robotnik. We'd never surrender to a bunch of lowlifes like you. bring it on you metallic meatheads." Sally says "we're outnumbered 3 to 1. We can't win this." "Sonic says "yes we can. We have something they don't. we have me, I'm too cool for these bots." Sally says "now that think of it, there's one more thing we have. Due to them surrounding us, we'll just fight harder." "how do you figure that." "it's basic psychology. We have no way out. fight or flight mode. We can't flee. We're cornered. That leaves one option; fight. We're now fighting for survival. This is the drive that will lead us to victory." "Sal…. I have no idea what you just said." " IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM, CRUSH THEM!" (a lot of other voices) "CAHRGE! RAAAAAWWWRR! LET NONE ESCAPE! FIGHT TO THE LAST BREATH! FOR OUR FAMILIES!" (and a lot of other stuff.) we charge in all directions. With her new metal fist, Sally punches the robot nearest to her. Her hand goes right through the bot. she says "I'm beginning to like this." Bunnie comes up behind her and says "how do ya think I feel Sally girl? Let's kick some can." They fight back to back, dismantling the robots in droves. But I have my own problems to deal with. Or rather… my own fun to have. i spin dash through a robot, then another, and another. I say "oh yeah! I'm on fire!" I notice my boots are flaming "uh oh, I really AM on fire. Wait a minute…. My boots are fire proof. So that gives me an idea." I kick the nearest bot, setting it on fire. It burns to a crisp. (don't ask me how that's possible.) I go onto the next bot and repeat my performance. In about 2 seconds, 50 piles of ash surround me. I say "if ya can't take the heat, get away from the Sonic's chilidog kitchen."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
Valiant  
It takes a while, but we finally arrive at the "safe" point. It is a cave…. I very well furnished cave. I say "are you sure no one knows of this place?" the resistance member replies "yes. Absolutely this is a hideout I've been using for years to kick back, take a break from life, and enjoy nature while I still can." "well, as long as it's safe then It's fine by me. I haven't "relaxed" in years. The war has put me through so much, so fast. So much sadness, so many casualties." Antoine walks up to me and says "I probably don't want to know, but…. How did I die?" I reply "you died valiantly." *enter flashback* I yell "TAKE COVER!" A hail of shots passes over our heads, missing us by inches. I say "whew, that was close eh guys?" Sonic replies "oh yeah. Too close for this hedgehog." "we need a plan." "well Sally's battalion is trapped behind enemy lines. We have to get to her." "yeah, but I just don't see how that's possible." "where there's a hedgehog, there's a way. I say we go for it, just push straight through." "that's totally crazy." "we've done crazier." "true… oh why not?" we dash from our cover and are immediately shot at by 10 bots. But this number of shots are easily dodged. Sonic cuts 4 of them in half with a spin. I shoot 3. And Antoine gets the other 3 with his sword. We continue on, destroying more robots as they get in our way. We are determined to get to Sally as quick as possible. We are almost to the place where Sally is held up when we hear a scream. Antoine says "zat sounds like zee princess." we start running. We turn the next corner to see a swat bot standing over Sally. It says "prepare yourself." Antoine screams "NOOOO!"  
he throws his sword at the robot. His aim is true and the blade impales the robot. But more bots surround her. Antoine charges in and retrieves his sword. Then he leaps into action, cutting up bot after bot. a pile of parts begins to surround Sally. But there are more and more robots coming. So many shots fly around. Antoine gets hit. But the roboticization process seems rather slow to me. Antoine says "I….Will… Never…. Let… You… Harm…. Princess….Sally!" he continues fighting. I am astounded. It looks as if his sheer willpower is slowing the process. It must be his love for Sally. That's the only conclusion. He destroys another 10 bots before he is hit again. Another 20 before he is hit a 3rd time, still he keeps fighting. Over 70% if his body is roboticized now, there's no way he'd make it. But he keeps fighting anyway. After another shot, 90% of his body is roboticized. But after that last hit, he finishes off the last robot. (There were about 100. So, he basically went super Saiyan and PWNED those bots hard.) He staggers over to Sally and says "my princess. I will not live to see zee end of theess conflict. But you are alive and zat ees good enough for moi. Promise me thees never give up princess, NEVER GIVE UP! You must carry on zis war without me." as a tear rolls down her cheek, Sally says "I promise." Antoine turns the sword towards his chest. He says "I refuse to become one of them. I won't to become one of Robotneek's metal monstairs. goodbye princess…. I love you." with that, he stabs himself in the chest. Sally shouts "ANNNTOOIINNE! NOOO!"  
I walk up to her and say "he was a brave coyote. we should bury him elsewhere than this battlefield when we win this fight. It's the honorable thing to do." Sally gets up and says "you're right, I've no time for this. He saved my life, I must not let his sacrifice be in vain. Let's go Tails." "I agree. Let's kick some metal behind." *end flashback* "we buried you at the foot of a large oak tree with your sword in front of your tombstone, which read, here lies Antoine, the bravest of the royal guard." Antoine looks down for a moment. He says "well… I'm glad I'll save princess Sally's life in the future. Thank you Future Tails." Rotor walks up to me and asks me the same question.  
*enter flashback* (this flashback is really long. Screw you Antoine. I like Rotor a lot more. So he gets a longer flashback.) I am helping Rotor work on a geothermal power generator. Rotor says to me "thanks for helping me Tails. With you by my side, this has gone a lot faster than I could have done by myself." "Don't mention it Rote. I'm happy to help a friend. Besides, I had nothing else to do today. So I'd have been bored." I fly up to the top of the generator and put in a screw. I say to Rotor "so…. What's this for anyway." "It's a geothermal power generator" "well yeah, I know that. But what are we using the power for?" "Well, this thing will not only meet new Knothole's power needs, but it will also power the automated farm I came up with. The one you helped me build." "oh yeah, I remember that." "also, I have an automated fish hatchery completed." *licks lips*  
A few hours later, Rotor says "and there, we're done. Let's hope this works." He presses a button and the machine comes to life. I wipe sweat of my brow and say "whew, finally." My stomach rumbles loudly. I say "oh…. I guess I'm hungry. Oh yeah…. I haven't eaten since breakfast. I've been so wrapped up in this project. Say, what time is it?" I look down at my watch "TWELVE O'CLOCK! Ugghhh… it's so late. I don't wanna walk home now. Hey Rote, you mind if I stay here for the night?" "not at all." "so, what do you have to eat here, as I assume you're hungry too." "well… all I have is a lot of fish. I can-" "GOD NO! Let me cook…. Actually no, let Nicole cook." "wait what?" "well you see…. To go along with your automated farm, I thought I'd build a semi-automated kitchen. Just provide the ingredients and it'll cook anything you want. Nicole's memory banks contain every dish known to Mobians. Well…. All you have is fish…. I have an idea. So, you want it hot or cold?" "well, I usually eat my fish cold, but I guess you would want it hot." "nah, it's fine. I've got an idea that we'll both find edible. (forgot to mention, Sonic may be a chili-dog chomping champion, but I can imagine Tails eating other things. So here is one of those other things. Tails is a genius, I imagine he as a more refined pallet.) I take Rotor to the kitchen with the fish. I take out some rice and some seaweed. I say "Nicole, make some sushi please?" Nicole replies "certainly my main fox Tails." (Sushi is one of my favorite foods of all time.) The machinery in the kitchen comes to life. First it skins the fish. Then it cuts it into the right sizes. After that, it places the rice on top of the seaweed and the fish on top of the rice. Next it rolls and cuts the sushi. Finally, it makes the wasabi sauce. All of that is placed on plates and the plates are placed on the counter. Nicole says "douzo meshiagare" Rotor asks "hey Tails, what does that mean?" "that's Japanese for 'Enjoy your meal.'" "ah. Well then, let's eat…. Um… how do I eat this?" "oh yeah, there's no way you'd know. Alright, let me teach you." I hold up a pair of chop sticks. "these are called chop sticks. This is how to hold them." I show Rotor how to hold the chop sticks. "now, to eat this, just dip it in the sauce, then eat it." "ok then." He eats a piece of sushi. Seconds later, he runs to the sink and starts gulping down water. He says "OH MY GOD IT'S HOT! How can you and Sonic eat hot food like this? I'll stick to what I know." (BURN BABY BURN!) He walks away and returns with a raw fish. I say "your loss. More for me."  
After we finish our meal, we go back to Rotor's house. (yeah this is still underground n' stuff. So, all of this is really just a bunch of rooms. Moving on….) we are standing in his living room. I say "so, where am I supposed to sleep?" Rotor walks over to the couch and pushes it to the side of the room. Then he goes into his closet and retrieves a small cube. He says "on here." "um Rotor….. are you losing your mind?" "nah. Watch." He places the cube on the ground and presses a white button on top of it. He says "stand back and watch my genius unfold." A bed, with sheets and pillows appears before my eyes. I do a double take, then rub my eyes. I say "whoa… that's really cool. *yawn* well, I'm really tired. So goodnight." "goodnight." He walks into his bedroom and I shut off the lights before going to bed.  
The next morning I awake to a horrible smell. I slowly open my eyes to see smoke above me. I run into the kitchen to see Rotor cooking. (OMGWTFBBQ! HOLY GOD ROTOR IS COOKING! WE'RE ALL GONNA GET FISH AIDS!) I RUN over to the stove and grab the pan from his hands, saying "oh no you don't. are you trying to kill me? ugghhhhh let me cook" "gosh Tails, are you trying to make me feel bad?" I give him puppydog eyes "pleeeaaassseee?" "oh who could resist that?" "well…call me a sadist, but I could." "lies" so anyways…. I end up taking some of the fish that Rotor ALMOST burned and sticking it in an omelet. (strange I know. But it's better than letting Rotor cook as that would lead to burned fish mush on a plate….supposedly.)  
After I save breakfast, and my stomach, from certain doom, Rotor tells me about his next project. He says "my next project is a scanner scrambler. Basically, it prevents Robotnik from scanning this place. His scans will always come up negative. So, he can't find us without well, finding us." I reply "neat idea. So… what do we do first?" "well….first we-" a siren goes off. "INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!" a com-bot breaks down the door and fires its weapon at Rotor. The shot hits him in the chest. I yell"NOOO! ROTOR!" I quickly reach into my pocket pull out a syringe. I stab him in the shoulder with it. Then I shoot the bot. Rotor is sweating hard. His face is pale. He says "oh my god. How? How am I alive?" I reply "I gave you the serum." "you completed it? I'm saved!" I look down and say "well….. not exactly. I didn't complete the serum. It will only 'halt' the process for about a week. After that, you will slowly be roboticized. My estimate is about a month total." "oh. Well if I only have a month to live, then I'll finish this project or die trying." Sonic and Sally come running into the room. Sally cries out "OH MY GOD ROTOR!" "everything's going to be ok Sally, at least for the moment. Tails gave me a shot of the serum he has been working on." "so… you're going to be ok?" "not exactly." I say "the serum isn't finished so, he's not going to make it. He's got a month at best. There's no way I'll complete it in time. In other words, he's gonna die. Though he's got a month." Rotor says "and I plan on using that time effectively." Sally says "you're a good walrus. No one could ever replace you." Rotor says "well…. I've gotta get to work then."  
1 month later  
The only part of Rotor that isn't roboticized is the top right part of his face. He says "well, it looks like it's the end for me. but before I go, I'll press this button and activate the system….. RAAWWRRR! CAPTURE FREEDOM FIGHTERS!... NEVER! I WON'T LET YOU TAKE CONTROL!" he presses the button. Nicole says "jamming system online. Good job Rotor." We all congratulate him on a job well done. He says "well, by everybody. It's been fun. but it looks like this is it. I have one request though. Someone shoot me. do it now before I turn. I won't become one of them. I refuse to become one of them…RAWWRRR CAPTURE FREEDOM FIGHTERS!... DO IT! NOW! SHOOT ME!" I shed a tear and say "goodbye Rotor, we'll all miss you. I hold a gun to his face and pull the trigger. Rotor falls to the ground with a smile on his face. He got what he wanted, he didn't give in to Robotnik. He was a true freedom fighter until the end. *end flashback* Rotor says to me "a signal jammer huh? Well, I guess that's useful." He walks away from me.  
I sit on the couch. It is soft and comfortable. I haven't felt "comfortable" in some time. This war has taken a heavy toll on me. my emotions have almost disappeared. I have become hard and fearless. I had to though. To have done otherwise would have led to my death. I say "ahhhh…. I have forgotten what comfort feels like." Tails walks up to me and asks "how is that possible?" "well….. like I said earlier, ever since the invention of the roboticizer rifle, things have been tough. I've been to New Knothole, but not for very long. We're always on the move. Just recently we destroyed a factory that supplied the military forces for the entire continent. From there, I was told that the army was marching on a power station close by. But I was sent back in time after the factory raid. Sonic told me not to go. But I reasoned with him, and he told me to go ahead. I thought it would be a piece of cake. But this assimilator must be newer than the ones I fought in the past. This thing is WAY upgraded. So, it turns out, that I'm once again on the move. Oh well, I'm used to it. You better get used to it as well, because until we can find a solution to this problem, our only option is to run from it." "I guess. But that doesn't make the prospect any more appealing to me. though I guess this entire situation is bad." "at this rate, It'll only get worse." The rest of the group walks up to us. Sally says "we need a plan." I say "well, any problem in the world can be solved with the proper application of high explosives. If we-" Sally hits me on the head hard. "OW! What was that for?" "for being a meathead. We can't just go blowing up the countryside. The 'countryside' may be dead in your time, but it's not dead in this time! And I'd rather keep it that way!" "geez…. It was just a suggestion. No need to get mad." This just earns me another whack. Tails says to me "I think you should just be quiet." I had to agree with him… uh me. god time travel is so annoying.  
Sally says "so as I was saying…. We need a plan that doesn't involve nuking the countryside." I say "base your strategy on this. The body of that robot should be made of iridium carbonite, an alloy not invented yet that is almost as hard as diamond. Needless to say that this is going to be one tough nut to crack. However, a large amount of force, should be able to overcome that. Say, point-blank shotgun shell. Though that's easier said than done. A strong enough laser would easily be able to melt it. But that's not possible here either." "well we could try and get weapons from Robotnik. Though that would be risky." Sonic says "I'm up for it. I'll steal weapons from old blubber butt any day." "but we can't risk that. If the assimilator finds you in Robotropolis, you'll be dead for sure." "oh come on Sal, do you honestly think that they can catch this hedgehog?" "you've too overconfident for your own good." "you're too cautious for your own good." "ugghhh… Sonic one of these days….." She walks off. I say "same old Sonic, no matter what time he's in, he still finds ways to tick Sally off. Soooo, if Sally's not here, then we can go through with my "blow stuff up" plan." "I HEARD THAT FUTURE TAILS!" "eep! Won't happen again Sally." "THAT'S AUNT SALLY TO YOU!" Antoine says "maybe we should let zee princess, how you say, "cool off" before continuing." I say "sounds good to me Ant."  
We hear a scream in the direction of Princess Sally. We run over to see the assimilator pointing its gun at her. It fires, but the (nameless guy) plants himself in the way of the shot and takes it instead. He instantly starts to roboticize He says "you must live princess Sally. Now go! I'll hold it off!" he charges at the assimilator and attempts to punch it with his right fist. I say "you heard him, RUN LIKE HECK!" we start running away. Sally says "what that guy just did was very brave. He gave his life for me. that thing has to be stopped before it takes any more lives." I say "I completely agree with you. but before we stop it, we need to get away from it right now. so keep running!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
Futuristic Failures Frustrate Fat Flabby Felon  
(remember when I said that I'd show the conclusion of the battle in chapter 3? Well.. I sort of….lied. skipping that. If ya don't like it then QQ to you)  
-within Robotropolis  
Robotnik is furious. He yells "HOW DARE THAT REPULSIVE REBELLIOUS RODENT REPEATEDLY WRECK THE ROBOTIC RANKS OF ROBOTNIK'S RUTHLESS REGIME! I'LL KILL HIM IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO. Oh wait… It'll kill him. I know that Tails isn't in this time anymore. He was sent back to stop my assimilator. So… hehehehaHAHAHAHAHAH! Now to put this plan into action. Get me an assimilator in the likeness of Tails Prower!" a few minutes later, a robot resembling Tails walks into the room. Robotnik says "you are the perfect replica of Tails are you not?" "yes Emperor. I contain all known data on the boy and have the ability act just like him." "good. That's just what I built you for. The one you are meant to mimic has been sent back in time. You are going to go replace him. Our intel suggests that the rebel army is headed back to their base. Whereas we don't know where that is yet, we have its general location. I am going to teleport you near that location. It will look like you came back to this time. Wait for the rebel army to find you, then terminate them." "yes emperor." "I will teleport you now." The robot steps into the teleport pad and Robotnik punches in the coordinates. He presses a green button. There is a flash of light, and the robot is gone.  
-1 mile from Knothole  
A ball of crackling energy comes into existence. It slowly expands, burning away everything in its path. Out if this ball, comes the Tails robot. It says "now, to complete my orders."  
-elsewhere  
Sally says "Sonic, I'm picking up an energy reading near New Knothole. The energy being picked up is the same as the time travel energy. That has to be Tails." "OH YEAH! He did it! Let's go to him. We can get to his position on our way back." "agreed."  
-1 hour later  
I see Tails and say "there he is!" The army and I run over to him. I say "good job buddy! It's good to have you back." Tails replies "I wish I could say the same." "what?" Tails charges at me, grabs me, and throws me 20 feet. The ground hits me like a hammer. I slowly pick myself up, wondering what just happened? Did I really just see what I think I saw? Tails runs at Bunnie and makes to punch her in the face. She blocks it and asks "what's gotten into you Tails?" Tails replies "common sense." He grabs her hand and karate chops her wrist, breaking the hand off. Bunnie says "What in the world?" Tails punches the shoulder of the hand he just broke off, leaving a dent. Bunnie tries to move that arm, but now she cannot. Bunnie says "I don't know what's happened to you. But you've crossed the line." She tries to punch Tails with her other hand. Tails stops the punch with his bare hand, catching her fist in his palm. He then grabs her forearm and pulls, causing her arm to come off at the elbow. Bunnie says "oh my stars he's taking me apart!" Tails roundhouse kicks her in the stomach and she goes flying 30 feet. She hits a tree and falls unconscious. I get to my feet, but before I can do anything, Tails runs up to me and grabs me by the throat. I start to choke. I ask "what….are….you….doing?" Tails replies "what I should have done a long time ago." Sally says "Sonic I'm coming!" she runs towards me but Tails throws me into her with ease. We're both on the ground now. Tails now runs towards the assembled troops who are watching. I stare in disbelief as my friend starts killing them. one after another, they fall.  
Me and Sally finally manage to get to our feet. I say "I don't believe it. How?" Saly replies "we've got to stop him before he destroys all of us. Robotnik must have gotten to him somehow." "I hate to say it, but you're right Sal, we've got to subdue him somehow." I run at Tails and try to punch him in the face. But this is futile. Again he grabs me by the throat. Ask "why…are…you…doing…this?" "you're so very weak. I don't know why I looked up to you. what a powerless individual. The weak have no place in this world. Meaning you, and the rebels must die." I start to see spots. Then I notice something strange. His hand is cold. I can't feel any body heat from him. That means….. I say "Sal….he's…a…robot!" Sally whips out a pistol and says "how dare you impersonate Tails! You're dead!" before she can fire, the robot drops me and knocks the pistol out of her hand. Then it knocks her out with a punch to the face. I think "so this is how it ends, killed by the likeness of my own brother." A laser streaks by my head and hits the robot in the face. I turn around to see Bunnie. She is holding her amputated forearm which is now in in weapon mode. She says "TAKE THAT! AND THAT!" she keeps firing until the robot is reduced to a pile of mush on the ground.  
I slowly get up and walk over to Sal. I shake her a few times and she wakes up. I help her ot her feet and we all walk over to the remains of the Tails robot. Sally says "that Robotnik….. he's reached a new low; making us think that our own friend is killing us. That's just sick." Bunnie says "I agree Sally girl." I say "me 3. Now that we dealt with that, we need to get back to new Knothole. There we can fix you up Bunnie." "I agree sugarhog."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
Locked and Loaded  
We keep running, eventually we come to a town. We start dodging in-between building and stuff, desperate to lose our pursuer. Suddenly, beside us there is an explosion. When the smoke clears, we see a large number of swatbots. I say "I never thought I'd be happy to see those guys. They're just the distraction we need." More explosions follow as the inhabitants are systematically wiped out in the name of Robotnik. I feel sorry for them, but there's nothing we can do. Also there are bigger problems to worry about.  
I see a minivan down the street. I bash open the driver's side window and unlock the doors. I say "Hop in! I'll drive!" the group jumps in. it's a tight fit, but we all manage to get in. I hot-wire the car and say "let's put the pedal to the metal!" I stomp on the gas, sending the car down the street. We go faster and faster, 40-50-60-70-80mph….. I say "sweet! This thing's doing 100! Oh yeah!" Sonic says "meh, I've done faster." I reply "obviously. You've gone twice the speed of sound, which is about 1600 mph. but in Super Sonic mode, you've traveled at the speed of light which is about 186,282 miles per second. Bunnie says "oh my stars. That's fast." Sonic says "wow you know your stuff." "what, do you think I learned nothing in the past 5 years." I turn back to the road to see a swat bot in the way. "OH CRAP! Wait a minute…." I turn to the side quickly, skidding to in the same direction I was just travelling, I broadside the swatbot, crushing it. More swatbots are down the street. But luckily, my turn has pointed us towards another street in the intersection.  
We speed down the street, determined to outrun the swatbots. The car is now going 120 mph, everything is a blur. But that doesn't decrease my driving skills. Antoine says "um…. Should you be doing zee slowing down of zee car?" I reply "nonsense. This is perfectly safe." "lies" Sally says "be quiet Antoine. Future Tails isn't going to crash this car, I can tell. So stop bothering him or you might distract him enough to make him screw up." I turn back to Antoine and say "yeah man, trust me. I won't crash." I turn back to the road to see a large force of swatbots in front of us. There are no cross streets. We can't turn around at this speed. I say "hold on everyone! This is about to get crazy!" I drive right into the mob and start running them over. Bot after bot is pasted to the pavement. (don't ask how that's physically possible. Well…. It ISN'T physically possible. But we all know that Tails is pro. He's not gonna let something like Newton's laws of physics get in his way.) though the repeated impacts of the bots is taking its toll on the car and it's speed. The speedometer is rapidly dropping. We finally break through the mob going 20 miles per hour. I say "OH YEAH! We made it completely unharmed!" suddenly, we hear an impact, followed by a high pitched screeching sound. Tails looks back and says "a laser shot busted one of our wheels. We won't get far like this." (by the way future Tails, you were ASKING for that one.) I say "you're right. We have to get out of this car." Sally says "but what about that army of Swatbots right behind us?" "oh come on Sal, have I been unprepared yet?" "grrrr! You're starting to remind me of HIM!" *points to Sonic* "well duh. After all, he DID, or is going to, teach me everything I know." Sally whacks me again. I say "OW! Would you stop doing that?" Sally replies "would YOU start using your head for something other than a hat rack?" seeking to change the subject, I say "Ok, we need to get out of here." I slam my foot on the breaks and whip off my seatbelt. I get out of the car and grab a grenade. (from his imaginary pocket.) I throw said grenade in front of the swatbots and a huge smoke cloud is produced. I say "now is our chance, let's get out of here."  
We run max speed, except Sonic of course, down the street. We WOULD lose our pursuers one way or another. It can't be too hard, I mean these are swatbots we're running from. They ain't the sharpest knives in the drawer. I see a side street and say "turn into that street." We make the turn to find out the side street is actually an ally; we're trapped. There are a number of doors, probably leading to houses in the alley. I run up to one of the doors and kick it down. We all run inside. The family inside of the house starts to freak out. I say "please sir and mam, stay calm. Everything is gonna be ok. We mean you no harm." The man says "oh really? YOU JUST BROKE DOWN OUR DOOR! You expect us to believe that you mean us no harm?" "we're just looking to escape a bunch of swatbots. They don't know we're here. Not to mention the fact that swatbots are stupid. I assure you that they'll pass right by and you have nothing to worry about." Rotor grabs the door and holds it in place. We wait until the footsteps of our pursuers fade away. Rotor puts down the door and I reach into my pocket. I pull out a sum of money. (if it wasn't clear, unlike in the movies, the time travelers can bring certain things. Weapons can't be brought though, or at least Tails couldn't bring weapons.) I hand it to the man. I say "here, this should be more than enough to cover that door. I sincerely apologize for the intrusion however that was a life and death situation. We should be going now." Our group walks out the door while the dumbstruck family stares at us.  
I say "ok, now that we no longer have that army following us, we can plan our next move. We have to get weapons of some sort." Sally says "well where would we get weapons?" "I suggest we go to some form of weapons store. Heck, there might even be one in this town." "well, you know what you're doing a lot more than the rest of us so lead the way." We leave the alley. Everything is quiet. Apparently the robots have finished with the inhabitants that they could find. So we are able to move freely. We search for a weapons shop in a grid. After half an hour of searching, I hear Tails yell out "I think I've got something here." We all go to where he had called out. he is standing in front of a building labeled "Gunz n' Stuff" I say "yeah! This is exactly what we need. The windows are broken and the door is blown to bits, Though somehow the lights are still functioning. Inside we see all manner of guns and other weaponry. I say "oh yes… this is exactly what we need. We're gonna blow that bot to bits."  
I begin to examine the contents of the walls. "hmmm….. pistols. Let's see…. .32 milimeter. Perfect. I grab one of the pistols along with 5 clips. I toss that stuff to Tails. I say "I'll show you how to use the weapons I give you once everyone has something. Now…let's see… 12 gauge shotgun. I'll take one of these….20 gauge shotgun with attached bayonet." I toss that one to Antoine figuring that he is more used to close combat. "now…. what else do we have here….. 30 caliber automatic rifle." I toss this to Sally. "now for Rotor…. Let's see if there's something that can make use of his strength." I look along the wall and notice a break in the wall that is clearly the outline of a hidden door. I say "there's a hidden door here. Bunnie, can you force it open?" Bunnie replies "sure can future Tails." She says "HIYAH!" and punches where the door should be. Her fist goes right through it. Now she pulls the entire door away. She says "one secret entrance revealed." We walk inside. In here is some SERIOUS stuff. Just by looking at it, I can tell that it's military grade. 100% illegal to sell to civilians. Whoever owned this shop must have had connections or something. I go over to a small circlet the size of a wrist. I open it and place it around Bunnie's wrist. I then press a button on the top and a laser pops out of the circle. I say "this is a wrist mounted laser gun. It's not as powerful as the rifles that the swatbots carry but it's still very effective. This can only be used by you however. It draws power from your robotic appendage." I continue looking on the wall. I notice something that makes my eyes widen. I do a double take just to make sure that my eyes aren't playing tricks on me. this is indeed what I think it is. The group comes over to me to see what I'm getting staring intently at. I say "This, is a Resonating Electronically Amplified Photon Energy Rifle, or, R.E.A.P.E.R. for short. This thing can punch a hole clean through a robotank. If anything can kill that assimilator, this can. But there's one drawback. You only get one shot."  
I throw this to Rotor along with a large strap. I say "strap this on your back. I have another weapon for you." (I was considering giving him a minigun but then I thought that would be a bit TOO big for fast travel.) i grab an RPG off the wall and hand it to him. I say "this robot is gonna go off with a bang." Next, I teach the rest of the group how to handle their weapons. I say "ok, now that you all know how to use this stuff, we can blow that robot into next week. Though I guess we'll have to find it first." Behind me, I hear "that action will not be necessary." The robot raises it's rifle. But before it can fire, Antoine charges at it. He uses the shotgun's barrel to knock the robot's weapon to the side. then he stabs it in the gut with the bayonet and fires point blank, blowing away a lot of the robot's skin, revealing the metal underneath. The robot looks down at him and says "that weapon projects insufficient force to damage this unit." It knocks Antoine aside with ease. Sally is up next, she squeezes the trigger and unleashes a hail of projectiles at her target. The torrent of bullets starts to push the robot backwards. Rotor grabs the REAPER and starts to aim at the assimilator. He keeps adjusting his aim and says "I can't get a clear shot with it moving like that." I say "personally, I think we shouldn't fight it in here. But we need a way out. we need a distraction." Bunnie fires her wrist laser. A blue energy ball issues from her wrist launcher. The ball impacts the robot and sends if flying back the rest of the way across the room. (LOOK! a distraction! WHERE?) She says "hey, this thang really works." Rotor now aims an RPG and fires. The missile impacts where the robot should be and creates a huge explosion accompanied by a cloud of smoke.  
I say "now's our chance. Let's get out of here." We run from the building and I notice a large jeep. I say "now this, I like. Get in guys, this is gonna be fun." we pile into the jeep and I hotwire it. Then we're off. We go from 0 to 70 in 5 seconds. This thing is FAST.  
We see the assimilator stagger out of the smoke cloud. Now half of its skin is missing and the robot part is clearly visible. It sees us and gives chase. It may look like a Mobian, or it did at one point, but it is far more physically imposing. Tails says "uh oh, it's gaining on us." Sally raises her rifle, and starts firing at the robot. But it just keeps coming. There's nothing we can do to stop it, or even slow it down. We're coming to a drawbridge….. which just so happens to be raising at the moment. I say "now for something crazy!" I slam my foot on the gas pedal and the engine revs. We shoot towards the raising drawbridge. Antoine covers his eyes and says "we're all going to die. I can't watch." we hit the end of the side of the drawbridge and leave the pavement.(Leeeerooooy Jenkinnnnns!) For a few seconds we are in the air, sailing above the gap in the bridge with only the water and open air below us. Sally says "we're not gonna make it!" I say "I'm on it!" I (defy physics again) run get to the back of the vehicle and grab Tails. I say "together we might be able to push the vehicle forward in mid-air just enough to reach the pavement." He replies "worth a shot." We both start rotating our tails as fast as we can. The car visibly moves forward just a few inches. But that won't be enough, we're still going to a watery grave. Bunnie goes tot eh front of the car and fires her hand to towards one of the support beams. She grabs on and starts to pull, adding to our forward motion. With both of these factors combined, we just might make it.  
The front wheels make contact. Sonic, slams his foot on the gas pedal and the car is slowly moved forward. We can't keep this up much longer. This is EXAUSTING both us quickly. But the back wheels are almost on the bridge. Rotor dives out of the car and grabs the front bumper and begins to pull. With his strength helping us, we finally get the car on the ground. Me and Tails fall to our hands and knees breathing hard. I say "we did it." And high five him.  
There is an explosion under us. I look back to see the assimilator firing at the bridge. I say "we gotta go, the assimilator is trying to shoot the bridge out from under us." Sonic says "you got it! Let's do it to it!" he slams his foot on the gas pedal and we're off. The bridge begins to shake. This is going to be very close. It's a race, our car, against the falling bridge. At first, it looks like we're not going to make it. But then the car gets off the bridge and it falls to pieces behind us. I wipe sweat off my brow and say "whew, that was a close one. now we need to get out of here before that death machine finds a way to follow us." Sally asks "so what route do you think it'll take; Acorn Bridge perhaps?" I reply "not likely, that is an indirect route. I think, it'll just swim across the river." "what? You MUST be joking." "I wish I was. I wish it wasn't, but future tech is impressive. The capabilities of Robotnik's robots have increased drastically. In other words, we need to keep moving." "but we can't run forever, we have lives you know." "in order ot get back to those "lives" we need to destroy the assimilator." "then why not just confront it? It's going to just keep finding us somehow. We'll have to deal with it eventually." "yes but we can't just charge at it blindly, we need a plan." "then here's what we'll do."….


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
Victory!

The freedom fighters in New Knothole are having a strategy meeting.  
Sally says "that latest attack really crippled Robotnik." I say "yeah, I'd have loved to see the look on his face when he learned that we not only destroyed his factory, but 2 armies of robots AND a power generator. Oh yeah, he's mad." "yeah, he won't recover from that quickly. He's a lot weaker now. We should use this period of weakness while we have it. We may never get a chance like this again." "what are you suggesting Sally?" "I'm saying that we should press our advantage. The second force of bots came from the direction of Robotropolis. so that means that the city's defenses are weakened. If we attack now, while the defenses are in this weakened state, we can end this right then and there." "I don't know Sal, isn't that a bit risky?" "when have you ever been one to care about risk Sonic?" "well I'm just thinkin of Tails ya know? What if he comes back and we're gone? Who's he going to turn to?" "you're contradicting yourself again." "how so?" "well if u remember a little while ago, I was the one saying that he was a kid, and u were saying otherwise. Come on Sonic, you've known him for many years. You know he'll come back safely. And besides, what better way to welcome him home than to say that the threat is over?" "I guess you're right." "so let's get these preparations underway." "so what IS your plan?" "we can't just assault the place. But what we can do, is now that there's less security, we can infiltrate it, capture Robotnik, and force his surrender." "That's it? I coulda thoughta that a long time ago." "yes but there were a lot more guards 'a long time ago'." "I guess….. but if you think that's the best way to do it, then I'm in." Bunnie says "me too." Sally says "then let's get packed and be on our way." I say "Yeah!" (by "assault" she meant lead a massive charge on Robotropolis with the combined forces of ALL the freedom fighters across Mobius. That was the original written plan. But then it took an arrow to the knee, um… I mean…. I decided that this would look better.)

Meanwhile at Robotropolis  
Robotnik says "those blasted bestial brats bested my biggest bot battalion! How dare they? I am Emperor Robotnik, no one can oppose me. I'll crush them and I have just the thing to do it. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. I'll get them this time. MWAHAHAHAHAHA! *cough* *cough*" Robotnik walks to the dungeon. There, he finds the cell of Sir Charles Hedgehog. (who has somehow maintained his mental freedom for all this time despite Robotnik's best efforts. Please don't ask. I've already butchered the timeline of the Archie comics, why stop now?) Robotnik drags Chuck from the cell. Chuck says "I've got no idea what you want from me, but I'll never tell you anything about my nephew or the rest of the freedom fighters god bless their souls." Robotnik replies "oh I think you will. You don't really have a choice in the matter." "you must be joking. You've tried to subjugate me 100 times before Julian. You can't beat me. You can't rob me of my free will." "That's why I'm trying something different." Robotnik shoves Chuck into a giant glass tube and presses a green button on a console beside it. The machine turns on and in a few seconds, Chuck is returned to flesh and blood. He looks at himself for a few seconds in disbelief. He then asks "you… freed me?" Robotnik replies "far from it." Chuck gets stabbed in the arm by a needle. And a vial of blood is filled. (yeah I know blood shouldn't be shown in pg rated stuff. You don't like it, then bite me.) Robotnik takes the vial, holds it in front of Chuck, and says "you've given me more information than you can possibly imagine." Chuck asks "what are you going to do with my blood? Clone me or something? They'll never fall for that. All of Knothole is well aware that I'm captive here and beyond their reach." "well that's quite simplistic of you Charles. No, what I want with this blood is not you, but Sonic." *gasp* "no." "yes. You two are blood related. So, I'll just analyze your DNA. It should at least be close enough to track." "so then what'll you do with me?" "oh I won't waste time and energy re-roboticizing you. No I have decided on an alternate method to control you, one where your mind stays intact." "that sounds like a load of nonsense." "oh but it's not. Computer, inject the bio-regulator bots." Chuck is stuck with another needle and what looks like black water is injected into him. When the needle is removed, he falls to his knees, too weak to stand. Chuck says "what did you do to me Julian?" "well wouldn't you like to know. I'll tell you in a minute. But first, Heil Robotnik!" Chuck says "yeah right. As if I'd-" he is cut off as his right hand moves of its own accord and salutes Robotnik. Chuck repeats "what did you do to me Julian?" "the bio-reguator bots I injected into your blood now control your bodily movements. No, they can't stop your thought process. But they don't have to, you are mine." "Julian your day will come. I may not be there to see it, but I swear, you will have your reckoning." "oh I don't think I will. Because you animals are weak. I know for a fact that your friends won't attack you. So the easiest way to get rid of them, is to make you kill them. Here, have a gun. Go get em tiger!" "I'll get you Julian! You'll pay for this!" (oh yes, he just lost his temper.) As Chuck walks out of the room, Robotnik reclines in his chair and turns on the video feed from an wasp bot flying over Chuck. He says "Snively, bring me a drink. I want to enjoy every minute of this."

Back to the freedom fighters.

I say "ugghhhh we've been walking for like 4 hours. I coulda been there and back like a hundred times by now." Sally says "well I'm sorry we're not as fast as you Sonic. Geez, you need to learn patience. Besides, it's only been an hour. Also, we're here." Ahead of us, we see Robotropolis. Just as predicted, it's almost unguarded. Only 2 combots at the front gate. I say "this is gonna be easy. Let's do it to it Sal." Sally says "right. Let's end this." We are just about at the entrance when we see a miracle. Uncle Chuck is slowly walking toward us. I wave and say "UNCLE CHUCK!" Chuck responds by saying "get away from me Sonic!" This statement stuns me. My own uncle, shunning me? This has to be some sort of trick. I ask "Uncle Chuck?" he says "Sonic, get away from me. Robotnik has control of my body. Run before I end up hurting you." As he says this, he takes out the gun Robotnik gave him and aims it at me. I'm still stunned, unable to grasp what I'm hearing. He fires. Before the bullet impacts me, Bunnie jumps in front of me and blocks the bullet; this gives her a huge, continuous shock. She falls to the ground. Robotnik's voice is heard from overhead "I am aware that Tails created a serum that stops me from roboticizing you. So I'll just have to invent new methods. Oh and as for you Sonic, enjoy being blown to bite-sized bits by your beloved up bringer." I say "Robotnik you monster!" Chuck fires another shot. This time I dodge it. I say "fight it Unc!" Robotnik says "oh I'm afraid that's impossible my spiny simpleminded friend. That isn't mind control. I control his body with tiny robots. No amount of willpower can free him from my grip." Chuck says "It's true Sonic. Get away from me. I don't want to fight you, but I'm under his power. Leave here before he makes me do anything else." I say "no way Uncle Chuck, I'm not leaving you again." "you have to." "no…..i…won't!" I take out a power ring and charge at my uncle. (ugghhhh I dislike the whole "power ring" idea. But it's needed here.) he fires, but I'm too fast; I dodge the shot and stop in front of him. Now I'm too close for the gun. He tries to hit me with it but I sidestep him and press the ring on his back. There are a lot of sparks as the ring touches his skin. This goes on for about a minute before Chuck falls to the ground. I immediately kneel down and ask "Uncle Chuck? You ok?" Chuck says "you did it Sonic. That power ring short circuited the bio-regulator bots. I'm free!" Robotnik says "oh no you're not. Forgetting something?" 30 swat bots land around us. I ask "swat bots? Really?" Robotnik replies "yes well the rest of my army is searching for you. I wasn't expecting you, otherwise I would've been more prepared. So I had to bring out these old antiques. They're all I have I'm afraid. But by force of numbers, they'll get you still." "yeah right, do you know who you're dealing with? I can break these no sweat." "ah but that's why I've added some special improvements. This won't be as "easy" as you think." "try me lard man, try me." The bots advance on us and with Bunnie out for the count, it's all up to me….. and Sal of course.  
I leap at the bot nearest to me, intending to bisect it with a spin. But I instead bounce off of it an inch from its body. A blue field reveals itself around each bot. I say "well now, this is new. You're right blubber butt, you HAVE upgraded these old things. But I'll still trash em, after all, they're just old junk." Uncle Chuck slowly gets on his feet. He says "they're unshielded from the back. Find a way to hit them there." I say "thanks Uncle Chuck. I'll get right on that." Sally somersaults under an oncoming bot. then she punches it in the back with her metal hand. Before another can turn around, she rips out its circuts. (talk about an iron grip. Hehehehe.) I sidestep a bot and kick it from behind, taking it out. The rest are dispatched quickly and efficiently. I say "like I said, piece of cake." Robotnik says "oh really?" we watch in horror as the bots pick themselves up and start repairing each other. I say "well I didn't see that one coming. This is gonna be harder than I thought. But that's ok, I enjoy a challenge." I turn to Uncle Chuck and say "any ideas? Cause I'm out of em'." Chuck replies "well….. they can repair themselves no matter how many times you break them. However, if you melt them with your speed, that's changing their entire chemical makeup, as well as distorting their forms beyond recognition. So my guess is that they won't be repairable then." "alright, it's worth a shot." I start running in circles while the bots pull themselves together. I quickly build up heat from the friction and soon my shoes are glowing orange.  
The bots are finally back together again; took em' long enough. I charge at the first bot, get behind it and kick in the back of the head. My superheated boot melts the back of its head where the brain ship should be… or so I've been told. After a few seconds, the robot falls to the ground, dead…. Sort of. I repeat this process on the rest of the bots. Soon, they are all on the ground with melted heads. Robotnik is obviously dumbstruck. He says "wha- how did you? You little! I'll crush you!" I say "coolstorybro. Keep em coming. I'll break anything you send at me." "oh really? Well I've got more tricks up my sleeve Sonic."  
Sally picks up the unconscious Bunnie and we continue onto the fortress in the middle of the city. We meet no resistance. This city really isn't guarded well. Though that just makes it easier to get in. but I'm still on the lookout for traps. You can never tell what that man has prepared. But surprisingly, we meet no resistance here either. This is strange; Surely Robotnik would have guards for himself. It's as if, besides the group from before, there are no bots in the city. Ah well, nothing to do but press on. We keep going through all the long corridors, not missing a single door as we pass by. We have to check everywhere to make sure we don't miss him….. though missing his huge body is rather hard. After about the 100th door, we finally hear Robotnik's voice. He is saying "they're in the base. We have to do something." Sinvely says "well I have no ideas sir." I break down the door and say "it's all over Robuttnik. We can do this the easy way or the hard way." Robotnik says "I think I'll take option 3, none of the above. He presses a button to his right and a high pitched noise starts coming from everywhere. I clamp my hands on my ears. But the noise is so loud that it doesn't help. Robotnik says "you can hear higher pitched sounds than I. so this is the perfect trap." This noise is so intense, I'm getting a headache. It's getting worse and worse, I start to feel sick. Soon after that I pass out. Robotnik says "I'VE WON! I'VE FINALLY WON!"


	8. Chapter 8

Flashback Chapter 8

Terminated

This chapter is going on at the same time as the last one… sort of… if you get my meaning. So anyways, ON TO THE EPICNESS!

Sally says "so you got this Sonic?" Sonic replies "oh yeah. Let's do this." Sonic runs in the direction of the assimilator. He soon sees it, just as I had said, it swam across the river. Sonic says "bet you can't catch me ya old bucket o' bolts." The assimilator replies "Negative. This unit is fully capable of matching the speed of target; Sonic the Hedgehog" "Prove it metal head!" Sonic runs towards the rest of the group with the assimilator in pursuit… sort of. Sally says "did you get it to follow you?" Sonic replies "Do fish swim? Do two-tailed foxes fly? Do blue hedgehogs named Sonic outrun everything alive or otherwise? Of course it's following me Sal. I think….." "then get into positions everyone."  
The robot comes charging into the area we have set the trap. Just a bit closer….. Sally says "NOW!" we jump from cover and bathe the bot in a hail of bullets. Though these just ping off of it. We're not doing enough damage. But we have the R.E.A.P.E.R. Rotor is carefully lining up the shot. The weapon charges up. The robot says "energy spike detected; Evasive maneuvers. Rotor fires; at the same time, the bot tumbles to the right. The shot goes right by it. Rotor says "oh crap." I curse under my breath. Now what are we going to do. Then the robot turns and points its gun at Tails. He stares at it like a deer in headlights. The assimilator fires. I shout "NOOOOOO!" and tackle him, knocking him out of the way of the shot. But this puts me in the line of fire. The shot hits me in the left ankle. I am quickly losing sensation in my leg as the roboticization progresses up it. However, I have a surprise for everyone. Out of my (imaginary) pocket, I pull a syringe with the serum in it and stab myself in the hip. There are a lot of sparks, then roboticization stops. My left leg is now robotic. But at least my past self is safe. The assimilator says "error; unexpected outcome. Clarify." I say "I bet you weren't expecting me to have the serum on me. So go ahead, bring it on." The assimilator fires and I block the shot with my bare hand. The rest of the group is dumbstruck. I say to them "this serum I created stops the roboticization process and also makes the person immune to further roboticization. However as for why I can't just apply it to all of you now, this stuff will kill you if there's no roboticization for it to nullify. That being said, it's of no use to any of you. But now that thing can't touch me anymore. I'll go deal with it once and for all." It tries to fire again. But my body just absorbs the shot and I start running towards it. Another shot hits me, but I don't care. After another shot, I am close to it. I try to fire at it. But just because I can't be roboticized, doesn't mean I can match that thing physically. It easily dodges my shotgun blast then knocks the gun from my hands. I try to kick it but it just catches my leg and throws me across the pavement. As it starts to walk towards me, I think "What do I do now? it's disarmed me and I can't physically fight it. wait a minute…. What about "that". No. no. I can't use "that". I haven't tested it yet. It could kill me. But this thing definitely will kill me whereas "that" might kill me. I'd rather have a maybe death over an assured death. besides, I've got no choice. The whole world back home is counting on me and I refuse to let them down. (again out of his other imaginary pocket) I pull out another syringe, this one loaded with neon blue liquid. I inject myself with it. The world around me slows down. I can hear my heart in my ears. All 5 of my senses become super acute. I get up and face my foe. My enemy is slower as well! No, I'm just faster. My heightened perception makes the world around me seem slower. It tries to punch me but I grab its wrist, stopping its fist an inch from my face. I then easily flip the assimilator over my shoulder. It gets up and charges me again. I easily dodge its blows for a few seconds, then sidestep it and kick it in the back, sending it flying back across the pavement. I leap and try to pound in its back with the momentum of the fall/punch. But it rolls out from under me at the last second, causing a small indent in the ground where it had just been. It tries to get up but I pin it to the ground and start to repeatedly punch it in the face. .5.6. Suddenly, my arms go limp and I fall on top of the assimilator as my limbs no longer have the strength to support me. My whole body is sore. I think "no…. not yet… it can't wear off yet. No….." The assimilator throws me off of its body and back 30 feet. I can barely move. It's coming, and I can't move. Dammit dammit dammit! I see my gun within reach but I can barely move my arms. Gotta….reeeaaccchh. It gets closer and closer as I struggle to reach for the shotgun. Just a few more inches…. It's standing over me. It reaches down to grab me by the throat. But by that time, I had just gotten a firm grip on the gun, or as firm a grip as I could manage. I drag the gun towards me and somehow manage to point the barrel at its face. I say "ASSIMILATE THIS!" and pull the trigger. The force of the shot sends the bot flying backwards. When it hits the ground, it lays there motionless. Slowly, it shuts down, broken beyond repair. I've done it, I have won. I pass out from exhaustion a few moments later.  
I open my eyes to see the rest of the past freedom fighters standing over me in the same couch as when I got here. Tails asks "what was that? You were going as fast as Sonic." I reply "well… not THAT fast. I wish I coulda gone THAT fast. It was an experimental hyper-stimulant. It allowed me to physically overpower that bot, but at a high cost to my body. I feel like crap. But I'll do a full checkup when I get back to my own time." Sally says "well you're in no condition to travel at the moment." "baloney." I try to get up and end up falling flat on my face. Sally says "you can't even stand after that stunt you pulled. Look, stay here for a few days THEN go back to your own time. Trust me, if you go back and there's some sort of situation, you'll want to be in top shape to face it." "I suppose you're right." With that, I climb back on the couch somehow and fall fast asleep.  
2 days later  
Now, I have to get back to my own time. Luckily I brought along a device to allow me to do just that. I say "the assimilator is destroyed. My mission is complete. So now I'll be heading back to my own time. Stay strong freedom fighters, you'll need to in order to face the future ahead of you." With that, I turn on the device and am sent back through the timestream. When I arrive, I once again see the burned land around me. Now I wonder where the rest of the group is. I go back to new Knothole and look around. No one is here either. Then I see plans for an attack on Robotropolis. So that's where they must be. I'll go there, they probably need my help.

After an hour of walking, I'm within viewing distance of the city. I see no guards. That is rather strange. But I can't worry about that right now. If my friends need me then there's nothing that's going to stop me from getting to them.  
I walk into the empty city and head for the palace. As soon as I get inside, I hear a faint, high-pitched noise. I clamp my hands over my ears. I say "what the heck is that? It hurts. I've gotta stop that before I go in there. I've got just the thing to do it too. I've been meaning to test this thing anyway." I take a blue grenade out of my pocket. I throw it at my feet. The explosion sends out a number of blue bubbles that, while harmless to me, will locate any source of artificial sound, and wrap themselves around it, muting it and rendering it useless.  
(to Robotnik's point of view)

"Well… now that I have them all in that containment tube… how shall I execute them?" A bunch of blue bubbles float into the room and cover all the room's speakers. Sonic regains consciousness. I say "WHAT ARE THOSE?" Snively says "I have no idea sir, but the knock-out sound wave is no longer functioning." "WHAT? HOW CAN THAT BE?" Sonic says "I'll tell you. it mean that Tails has come back from the past to kick your butt." "ohreally? Let's see him try."

(ok back to Tails)  
I now enter the building. The second I do, the doors close behind me and 5 swatbots charge through hidden doors. I draw a pistol; A different one than the explosive round one. this one is also an experimental piece of gear. I aim and fire at the nearest bot. as soon as the round hits the bot, it becomes trapped in a sort of straight jacket made of red energy. It struggles to break free for a few moments before being electrocuted. The other bots meet the same fate. I press on, destroying more bots as I go. Soon, I reach the room where the fat man himself is sitting. I also see the rest of the freedom fighters trapped in a tube. I aim my weapon at Robotnik. He presses a button on his chair and the tube holding my friends starts to quickly fill with water. He says "well it seems your friends are in quite a wet situation there. So I'd suggest getting them out of there." He presses another button and the chair disappears into the floor. He says "NEXT TIME I'LL GET YOU ALL!" I whip out a laser cutter and dash to the tube. The laser quickly cuts open the tube and my friends fall out with moments to spare. Sonic picks himself up and hugs me tightly. He says "I missed you buddy." I say "and I you." Sally says "you were gone for so long. I started to fear the worst." I say "come on sal, this is ME you're talking to. Why would you ever doubt that I'd come back?" Sonic says "yeah Sal. My bro is stronger than he looks." Sally says "that's true. Now let's get out of here and go home."  
End


End file.
